Tamil Nadu: 65-year-old man cycles 140 km to take wife for cancer treatment

While several people have been complaining about the obstacles they have been facing over the nationwide lockdown, here is a man who made the brave move of taking his wife to a hospital located 140 km away in his cycle for her chemotherapy session.

The man, identified as 65-year-old Arivazhagan, is a daily wage worker. He took his wife from his village near Kumbakonam to the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) hospital in Puducherry in his cycle. The journey reportedly took close to 17 hours, whereby the couple stopped for tea in the afternoon and took a two-hour nap near a pond. He also tied her body to his using a towel to keep her from falling off the cycle. Despite the Out Patient Separtment (OPD) and the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) of the hospital being closed currently, the doctors decided to make an exception and treat Arivazhagan’s wife upon hearing their ordeal. They stayed in the hospital for the night and were taken back to their village in an ambulance the next morning.

According to a report by a news agency, Arivazhagan stated, “They gave my wife the needed treatment and pooled money together and gave me that. They also gave medicines for one month and paid about Rs 6,300 for Ambulance to drop us back. The doctor also told me that an ambulance could be organised to bring Manjula to JIPMER for treatment. I save from my daily wages and take her to JIPMER in Puducherry. It is still unbelievable as to how I pedalled the distance.”